


Journey to Nowhere

by EmperorBlueJae



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-10 12:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5584801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperorBlueJae/pseuds/EmperorBlueJae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krem gets along well with the Inquisitor. She was a friend that he didn't expect to make, and one that he hopes that he never loses. But he doesn't know how far the friendship can go with the way that things have been working out.</p><p>A story about Krem and the Inquisitor. And the ups and down of their forming relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Krem: Convincing Stubbornness

It was a cold evening. There was a strong wind that was blowing over anything that wasn’t nailed down. Every person was inside doing their best trying to stay warm as the cold wreaked havoc outside. Every window is boarded to keep from flying open. Inside an Inn was a small group of mercenaries that were resting from a long day of traveling and fighting. One of the men was still awake, patching the holes in his fellow mercenaries’ clothes.

Cremisius Aclassi had been struggling to sleep with the commotion of the outside. He had decided to keep himself busy while he couldn’t sleep, with work.

While he had been working he had been thinking about what work they could get next. One of Krem’s jobs as Lieutenant was finding more work for the group. They had been hitting a few dry spells as of late thanks to the mage rebellion. On top of that, the work that they have been getting had a heavy influence of magic in them. Krem knew that The Iron Bull didn’t like anything to do with magic. Demons always freaked him out.

What he wanted to get for them was a steady higher. Someone with a lot of money that would need their help. There had been people that had been asking for them. But he found that many of them were questionable. Many were nobles who just wanted to have a dick measuring contest. Only with how many bodyguards they have.

When he heard movement coming from the other bed in the room he looked up to see Rocky sitting up in his bed. Yawning and rubbing his eyes. Krem would get his own room, with a heavy snowfall it meant that the option wasn’t available.

“Krem?” He said. “Are you still up?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” He said back. Looking back down at the shirt he was fixing.

“Something keeping you up?”

“The cold winds. Keeps rattling the windows, don’t know how you can sleep through it.” Rocky chuckled.

“It doesn’t stop being quite in Orzammar. I could sleep through an earthquake.” Krem leaned back against the headboard on the bed. He wished he could sleep as Rocky did. His face must have shown how hard he was thinking because Rocky then asked him.

“Is there something else keeping you up?”

“Yeah. We haven’t been getting steady work lately. It has been sporadic at best. And with Bull’s fear of demons and magic that makes it even harder. Fucking mage rebellion is making most jobs related to magic. We need to find people that will hire us on a regular basis but still let us do other work.” It was difficult. Krem had some organizations in mind but they all seemed exclusive. Most of them had their own mercenaries and groups that they hired.

“What about that one group of recruiters we ran into yesterday? They were talking about an organization that it had just formed.”

“You mean the Inquisition?”

“Yeah, those ones. They were asking for mercenaries that they could hire. From what I heard though no one is making a rush to do some of their jobs.” Krem was confused by that.

“Why is that? I’m sure they must be filled with jobs that need to be done.” Rocky shrugged.

“Maybe it’s the fact that it was formed by the Chantry. Anyone, not Andrastian wouldn’t want to get caught up in a cult. They don’t seem like one. They are way too disorganized to be one.”

Krem remembered there were some people who were talking to the merchant. They did seem scattered when he thought back about them. He didn’t know much about them beyond what they heard in their travels. Yesterday was the first time they interacted with someone from the organization.

He did talk to someone that was part of it. They had told him that they were scouts. They were trying to find people to trade with since they were doing their best to build up supplies. He thought back about what they had told him about the organization

They were a growing organization. They a small group with no one leader yet. The scout mentioned The Herald of Andraste making most of the decisions. The main focus was fixing the giant hole that had opened up in the sky. Some people saying they were bringing justice to the divine’s death. As far as he knew they did deal with magic, but not on a large level. The scouter said most of what they did was about helping others.

Thinking about it, it was the best option that they had as an organization that would help them. They seemed open to anyone that they could get in on their side. They had been shouting that they would recruit everyone and anyone. It was too new to have any questionable motives or any corrupted parts. The longer that he considered it the more he realized just how much of a good option it was.

There was no guarantee that they would be getting hired by them. They couldn't volunteer since they wouldn't be able to make enough money. But if they sold themselves just right he was sure that they wouldn't see it as an issue. He could show them how they operate. But he would have to convince the Iron Bull first.

Bull was stubborn as his namesake. Some days meaning that convincing him of anything would be a challenge. Let alone join an organization made to close magical rifts.

Krem is smart, though. He had made it this far in life with his whit, if there was one thing he could do, to convince The Iron Bull to join them.

“We should join them he said out loud.” Krem stood up from his bed. Rocky already had fallen back to sleep. He then left his room and went down the stairs to the tavern area, where he saw him sitting in at the table closest to the fireplace.

"Hey, Chief!" He called as he walked up to The Iron Bull. A cloak around his shoulders to keep his otherwise uncovered torso to keep him warmer. He looked up from the sword that he was doing his best to fix. He had slammed the end of it against a boulder after missing a rogue in the last fight they had. The entire edge had was mangled to the point of it being usable.

"What is it Krem?" He asked before looking back down at the sword. He had been trying to fix the mangled end since Krem had gone to bed hours ago. Thus far he had only made it straighter by a fraction. The edge still being jagged.

"I have an idea. We should join the Inquisition." He said with all the enthusiasm that anyone has ever seen come from him. There was a wide smile across his face. His hair disheveled since he hadn't tried to fix it since the fight that morning.

Bull was far less enthusiastic about the idea. Even with the lack of facial expression, Krem knew how to read Bull. He had small ticks with his hands, like how he tucks his thumbs in when he doesn’t like what is happening. His thumb was trying to tuck in on the hand that was holding the hammer.

"It will be good fights for a good cause!" Krem sat down across from Bull. This way Bull would have to look at him or look away. He did that any time he needed to make sure that Bull would pay attention to him.

“I don’t know Krem. I hear there are demons. You know that I don’t like anything that has to do with magic.” Bull said. He started to give sharp hits against the edge of the blade to keep straightening it. Krem had told him just to take it to a blacksmith but he was as stubborn as his name described.

“Ah come on Chief! I’m sure there won’t be that many demons. Not enough to have to worry about.” The Iron Bull was still looking very hesitant at the idea. Krem knew he would have to go about convincing him from another angle.

“Look, we need another income. We’re doing well with these odd jobs so far, but we just barely made enough to stay at this inn and our meals. Other mercenary groups have been grabbing jobs before we can find anywhere that’s hiring. This will be a good cause to fight for, hell they might even provide us places to sleep.”

Bull gave a loud groan. But didn’t say anything else. They both knew that Krem was right. The money was a good reason for going but he didn’t that to be the main one.

“I know you don’t like magic stuff. Believe me, it was a shock when you wanted to bring Dalish on. But this will be doing the right thing. We are using our skills for more than just the money, we will be helping people.” More of Bull seeming hesitant with the idea.

For a moment he didn’t say anything, just silently stared at Krem. Then moved his eyes back down to the sword he was trying to fix. Krem was just waiting for the no to come. That they should look for other alternatives. Maybe he could convince him to think about it.

“I want to see what they can do first.” Krem froze. “Let’s have them fight but make it look like we want to show them what we are made of. If we are going to join an organization filled with magic, I want to see if they can handle themselves first. If they can pass my test, then we’ll join them.”

Krem just blinked at him at first, processing what he said. Then he broke out into a wide smile.

“Right I’ll start planning everything right away. We could see if we could take up a job somewhere with a heavy fight. Not too heavy though we don’t want to get overwhelmed. Especially if they don’t come. We have to let them know about it too. I write a letter- no I’ll go in person. That way I can deliver the message in person. Should probably do that right away-”

“Krem.”

“Yes, Chief?”

“Go to bed.”

“Right… Chief.” He said, a bit embarrassed when he remembered what hour it was. ”Good night Bull. I’ll finish this with you tomorrow.”

Krem said before going back to his room. He wasn’t sure how much sleep he was going to get tonight. He might just be too excited to get any actual shut eye.

What Krem didn't realize as he walked to his room. That this would be the easiest part of what was to come.


	2. Ellee: The Importance to Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be alternating between Krem and my Inquisitor through chapters. Though it won't be an even back and forth since I do want some more focus on Krem rather than the Inquisitor.

Ellee Lavellan didn’t know when she was going to have any time to process what was going on in her life. One moment she was with her clan. The next she was in the Hinterlands with two humans and a dwarf closing rifts. This was nothing like what she was expecting when the Keeper sent her out to be a spy.

With all these sudden responsibilities that were upon her, she didn’t know quite what to do. Suddenly she was in charge of an organization. There were barely any moments that she had that she could take a breath. To get her grounding on what was going on. All she was doing now was moving from one obligation to another.

As she stood in the war room with Cullen and Leliana she could feel herself growing more tired, wanting to go lay down. The two of them were relentless when it came to trying to side with either the mages or the templars. The two of them were giving her their best arguments for the last few hours. It had become difficult to attempt to get them to talk about anything else.

She ran her fingers through her short grey hair, pushing the parts back that were falling in front of her face. She looked down at the war map trying to weigh her options. She crossed her arms then lifted a hand to rub her chin. She needed more power before she could make any decisions. She knew she would have to go out and try to see if she could get more people to join the Inquisition.

“Ellee.” She looked over at Leliana. “Do you think with Vivienne in our company that we would have better control if we sided with the mages? She already has a great deal of influence in Val Royeaux, if we brought in the mages they would view her as a leader?”

“I can’t speak for the mages. The only real interactions I’ve had with mages was my keeper and her apprancence. But I’m sure her credibility will work to our advantage. Cullen, how have your troops been with our noble friend?” She asked, looking up him. Being only at shoulder height to him she did a lot of looking up.

“He was not pleased by what we did. But we got Bann Traft on our side now. Many refugees came back with the soldiers to find work in the Inquisition.” Ellee smiled at that. She didn’t like how the nobleman had spoken about the refugees. He had contacted them asking for them to kick the refugees off his land. But when he bad mouthed elves and apostates, she ignored Josephine and Leliana to ask Cullen to send his troops.

“I still think we would have been better off helping him.” Lileana said.

“I refuse to help someone who thinks people running for their lives as a nuisance.” Ellee said sternly. The only time she wasn’t her bubbly self was in the war room. Where she knew she had to be firm on her decisions. This also meant that the advisors wouldn’t question her decision.

“I understand that you value the everyone’s life but he had power and money we could have used. We’ll never get his aid now.”

“And what would we do for the refugees? Run them off the land? They would be stuck running from one noble’s land to another. Not everyone can live like the Dalish Lileana.”

Cullen was quick to change the subject when he realized the strength of the two personalities in the room. Neither of the two was going to back down.

“I’ll have the reports sent to you tonight. For now, I think we can finish this meeting and resume when Josephine and Cassandra are available. I have some training I have to get to.”

“Agreed.” Lileana said back. Ellee nodded, they then collected their papers and left. Ellee took longer to leave as she wrapped her facial scarf around the lower half of her face. Then her hood up to cover her head. Leaving only her eyes visible

She walked out of the room with the stack of papers in hand. It was all the paperwork that she needed to be finished by tonight. Giving a nod to Vivianne while passing her. Vivianne gave a nod back when she had glanced up from the book she was wearing.

Once outside she could feel the harsh cold of the outside. She fixed her jacket as she walked to keep her warmer. The wind picked up, her hood started to fly back. She realized she forgot to pin it. So she had to pull it down by the front to keep it down, skewing her vision. Causing her to nearly walking into someone from behind until she stopped herself. Excusing herself.

When the person turned around she looked up to see a human she didn’t recognize. She had never met this human before. She also recognized that he didn’t look like he was of Ferelden origin. She looked at his face and was happy hers was covered to hide the blush.

He was a handsome man. With olive skin and brown hair that was shaved down except longer parts on the top of his head. Wearing armor that she didn’t recognize. She had become use to the attractive men that were normally at Haven. But she could still be surprised by strangers.

"Excuse me, I’ve got a message for the Inquisition, but I’m having a hard time getting anyone to talk to me.” She realized that he was talking to her. And probably didn’t know she was the Herald. Maybe he assumed she was one of the spies?

“Oh- What’s the message?” She said, straightening her back and doing her best to appear confident. Moving her hands to sit behind her back.

“I’ve got word of Tevinter Mercenaries gathering out on the Storm Coast. My company Commander, Iron Bull, offers the information free of charge. If you’d like to see what the Bull’s Chargers can do for the Inquisition, see us there and watch us work.”

She nodded as he talked. She knew they need more people to do smaller and more dangerous jobs that they weren’t qualified for. People that could help get other intel, or do other things. She was sure if they were good they would expensive, though.

“I would like to ask some questions before I make any decisions.” She said. Ellee knew she would need more information before making a decision.

“Of course. What can I help you with?”

“What should I know about this Iron Bull?”

“He’s... one of those he’s one of those Qunari. The big guys with the horns? He leads from the front, he pays well, and he’s a lot smarter than the last bastard I worked for. Best of all, he’s professional. We accept contracts with whoever makes the first real offer. You're the first time he’s gone out of his way to pick a side.”

She wasn’t sure if he was trying to win them with flattery. By his tone, it sounded like it was more of just explaining his character.

“What can your bull’s chargers offer the Inquisition?”

“We’re loyal, we’re tough, and we don’t break contracts. Ask around Val Royeaux. We’ve got references.” She was certain to take a look into those references too. To make sure that they would agree with what he was claiming.

“Why did you send us this information?”

“Iron Bull wants to work for the Inquisition. He thinks you’re doing good work.” Now that is something that she can take as good information. After with what happened with the nobleman she figured that she could use a few more people on their side.

“I look forward to meeting this, Iron Bull. Expect me with three other comrades to be there to see your company and you in action.”

“We’re the best you’ll find, come to the Storm Coast, and you can see us in action.”

Ellee looked around seeing one of the elf workers that often did work for Josephine. Calling out to her.

“Shennai.” She called out to her. She came running over. “Can you help-”

“Cremisius Aclassi.”

“Collect his reference information. And any other information he has regarding the information he delivered. Have it delivered to my quarters tonight. And make sure the has a bed for tonight and supplies for his journey back.” The elf nodded quickly.

“Of course Herald- I mean Ellee. I’ll take care of it right away.” She gave a soft sigh. Ellee didn’t like the Herald title and was doing her best to get people to call her by her actual name.

“Thank you. I’ll be seeing you Cremisius.” She said to him. Seeing the surprise on his face, it had to be from how Shennai had calling her the Herald. People never expected a short elf woman to be the so-called Herald of Andraste. She left the two of them. Pulling up her facial scarf more as she walked to her room. Feeling like she really needed to get to her bed so she could finish her paperwork in comfort.

Before heading down the steps away from the Chantry, she looked over her shoulder. Seeing the Shennai bring the handsome human inside, likely to Josephine's office. Then she looked back ahead. Walking down the steps to her room.

She was excited to see the human man again. She would have to look into taking a trip to the Storm coast the next time she had to do some traveling.


	3. Krem: Making Ties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters after this one won't have as much in-game dialogue.

From the cold harsh winter of Haven. To the terrible wet and coldness of the Storm Coast. Krem was not a fan of Ferelden weather. He was cold wet and miserable from the rain that hadn’t ended in days. By the end of the day, he was ready to crawl his way back to Tevinter just for the warmth. Sure it was a nightmare for him to live there, but at least, it was a warm and dry nightmare.

Planning for this fight wasn’t a common job for them. Normally they had people assign them people they had to fight or things that needed to be taken care of. They almost never did anything that was out of the way. It was likely something that wasn’t going to be happening again once they were on board with the Inquisition.

The Iron Bull had seemed excited when Krem gave him the letter from the Herald. His way of showing excitement was the giant goofy grin on his face. In the letter, she told him that she would be there, with descriptions of people that would be in her company. When the letter came in he didn’t know that it had been written by the Herald and that she had mentioned Krem by name until Bull pointed it out to him.

It was a bit flattering that she had mentioned him. Though when The Iron Bull asked for a description, he didn’t have much information. Other then that she was short and covered herself from head to toe. He did see pale green eyes surrounded with dark skin between her hood and scarf. Krem thought she had very pretty eyes but had put on too much white eye makeup.

There were small parts of him that were excited to meet the Herald again. He was interested in knowing more about the person who had the ability to close rifts. He had felt the need to follow what she said when he was around her. She had an air about her that made him want to know what she had to say. This made him excited to try fighting with her.

He had been up since early that morning when he had to wake everyone to fight the Venatori that had come to this area. Taking down people he knew that supported someone that wanted to watch the world burn. That made the terrible weather feel less terrible.

They had someone scout out earlier to look to see if the Inquisition party that would be coming. He got word back that they had a camp that had been set up a close distance from their planned fight. He took this as a good sign.

It took little time and tracking before they finally found the Venatori. They had to track them down to the beaches. Watching closely to their movements as they made their way around them. They had planned to take them by ambush. But they wouldn’t go in until they got word that they were coming too for the fight. This was difficult since Iron Bull wanted to just charge down and attack them all at once.

But once they got the signal they all charged down. The long rangers stayed back to attack at a safe distance while the close combats ran down. Taking the Venatori by surprise, it gave them an advantage of their unpreparedness. He found once fighting that there was more Venatori then he thought, there must have been reinforcements that he didn’t see.

Krem lifted his heavy war hammer, feeling the weight of it in his hands as he ran down the sand. A Venatori ran at him and he swung it in one swift motion, slamming it into him making him go flying a good distance away. He was able to swing his hammer to hit another Vint nearby. He kept up his momentum to keep hitting more and more Vints as they came at him.

He knew they were doing well, and would likely be able to take them out on their own. But he was becoming worried that they would be dead before the Inquisition came. So far Krem knew that he killed, at least, five up to this point. He could see more reinforcing Vints coming up the beaches yelling like maniacs. Realizing he thought too early of them not having enough people to fight.

“KREM!” He heard a familiar voice shout to see Dalish trying to block a Vint with a giant sword. He charged over and swung his hammer at the Vint. But the Vint was quick to react, knocking back Dalish blocked it with his sword. The Vint kicked Krem, making him stagger back. He was just barely able to recover to block.

This guy was tougher than the rest. The two of them fought one on one while the battle around them continued. Attacking each other and responding with blocks or dodges. Counter attacks were difficult with large weapons. Krem must have had an opening he didn’t realize because the Vint was able to get a kick in that knocked him on his ass.

The Iron  Bull was going to chew him up for this later.

He let out a loud swear when he landing. Scrambling to return to footing only to look up and see the Vint with his sword up to swing down on him. Krem stared in horror, grabbing his hammer and readying it for the oncoming blow

Suddenly the Vint made a choking sound as his whole body jerked. Dropping the sword, before falling to his knees and slumping to his side. Revealing a short skinny person dressed in layers of blue and brown fabrics. Wearing a mask that only revealed their green eyes. A dagger was in each hand. Even with a covered face, he could recognize by the clothes and build that it was the Herald. He smiled at her when he realized who she was.

“Cremisius Aclassi. I thought when I saw you again it would be on your feet.”

“It seems I joined the rest of Thedus in looking up to Herald of Andraste.” She holstered her daggers, then reached out a hand to Krem. He took her hand and let her help him up. She was stronger than she looked. Once he was pulled up she took her daggers back out, then dashed away to fight more enemies.

He looked at her as she ran. Watching as she dodged the big heavy fighters, finding open spots before delivering each of her blows. She used her smaller size to her advantage by being much faster than the big fighters. As he looked around he could see her companions that she brought along.

There was a human woman with dark skin. She seemed regal looking as she cast spells. She acted as if it took her almost no energy to deliver spells that decimated enemies. The was an elf archer who kept making vulgar taunts as she fired arrows rapidly. She had near perfect aim as she picked off enemies that she was killing. Then there was the other human woman, Krem was happy that she was on their side. The best way to describe her was that she was a tank. She used her shield to slam people out of her way. Using her sword to slice away at people that came at her. The team she brought was a good show of both force and diversity. It was a team of woman that all had different skills. Krem was impressed by the display of force.

He returned back to fighting, watching the Venatori thinning out quicker than before. The women that joined in the fight were taking down Vints faster than he expected. It wasn’t long before the fight eventually ended. He knew that Iron Bull would be more than just satisfied with what they showed.

On occasion, he could hear the taunts of the Herald and the companions. Or the orders that the Herald would call out to her companions. From what he saw, the strategies for the fight were working well.

He found what the Herald shouted entertaining. At one point he heard her yell.   


“Taste my steel you Vinetori pieces of shit!” Only to hear shortly. “Aw come on, I just washed this coat.”

He was feeling tired from the fight, panting as he could feel his shoulder’s need to relax. It had been a heavy fight that required most of his energy. So he set his hammer down against a large boulder. There were still a few of the group that were staying on high alert for anymore Vints that came running from out of nowhere.

Krem went and checked in on the Chargers. Checking that everyone was okay or at least in a stable condition. It made him happy when he saw everyone made it out of the fight alive. There were a few people who looked banged up. He went over who was badly injured, and who just had a few bumps and bruises. Skinner was holding her head and he noticed a large bruise.

“You all right there Skinner?” He asked her out of obvious concern, he always got worried over head injuries.

“I think so. Big brute slammed me with a shield. My ears are still ringing and I’ve got a headache coming on. But don’t worry about me Krem. I’ll get myself checked out before I make myself do something crazy again.” She gave him a reassuring smile, that he returned.

“Good to hear. I’ll check in on you later.” She nodded before he turned back around. Checking in on everyone else until he heard The Iron Bull. Making his way over to him knowing he would be asking for a report on how they did.

“Chargers, stand down! Krem, how’d we do?” Krem kept a smile from cracking a smile with how excited Iron Bull seemed to be.

“Five or six wounded, chief. No dead.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Let the throat cutters finish up, then break out the casks.”

Krem gave him a nod then went back to finishing what he would have to do. He had passed by Ellee as he went.

Their work didn’t take a lot of time to finish. Most of the people had been killed while in the bulk of the fight. Making the work quick.

He had Rocky work on getting the casks open and distributing the drinks. Krem didn’t know if it was his love for drinking or if he was a dwarf. But he always had a way of getting out ale.

He noticed Iron Bull waving him over from where he was talking with the Herald. He walked back over to see what he wanted. When he was standing next to the Herald he noticed how small she was compared to Iron Bull. As she stood Krem felt like she was someone he could respect. What she lacked in size and showing on her face. She made up for it in how she held herself, with a voice that made a person want to listen. Krem had noticed this when he first met her in front of the chantry.

“I assume you remember Cremisius Aclassi, my lieutenant.” He looked over and gave her a nod. She gave a nod back. He could see come cringing in the corner of her eyes. Was she smiling at him?

“Good to see you again. throat cutters are done, Chief.” He informed. Fixing his posture. He felt like he was slouching with how straight the Herald kept her back.

“Already?” He said sounding doubtful. “Have ‘em check again. I don’t want any Tevinter bastards getting away. No offence, Krem.”

“None was taken. At least, a bastard knows who his mother is.” He could hear the Herald beside him giggling after he said that. She had a sweet laugh, it reminded him of canaries chirping. He smiled, backing away he said before completely walking away. “Puts him one up on you Qunari, right?”

He could hear her giggling more as he walked away.

He had the throat cutters do one more check over as he went over to Rocky. He saw him standing there with an axe in one hand as he drank from a mug. A few of the chargers who were getting stitched up were drinking the most. He took a mug from Dalish when she offered it up to him.

“Thanks for saving me back there Krem. I don’t know what that brute would have done to me.” Krem took a drink from the mug before speaking.

“Just doing my job. I’ll have to thank the Herald properly for saving my hide from that bastard.”

“Oh, so that’s the Herald? I thought it was that woman in the templar armour… I wonder what the mask is about. You don’t see them being word outside of Orlais.” Krem gave a shrug.

“It’s her business. It’s was best to not pry into other people’s lives.”

“Krem.” He looked over to where Bull was with the Herald. “Tell the men to finish drinking on the road. The chargers just got hired!” Many of the chargers cheered at the news. They were excited and on board to join up with the Inquisition. While this made Krem more than excited to find out their plan worked. All he could think about was the destroyed casks they just open.

“What about he casks, Chief? We just opened them up. With axes!”

“Find some way to seal them. You’re Tivinter, right? Try blood magic.” Krem saw the Herald behind Bull slip her hand under her mask as her shoulders shook. He guessed that she was giggling again.

He chugged the rest of the drink, slapping the mug down after. Then he started his job as a Lieutenant. 

“Find the most intact cask and fill it up then nail it back together. Grab any extra canteens you have and fill them up. We’re heading out as soon as we’re all ready.” Krem walked along the beach. Checking in on everyone and making sure that everyone would be ready and able to move out.

He was good at making sure things went along smoothly. When he saw that Skinner was 

“Cremisius.” He heard behind him. Turning around then looking down to see the Herald standing there. Before he could even ask what she needed she said.

“If you require anything the Inquisition will be more than happy to provide any supplies that your company needs. My camp is north-west from here. Stop there and tell them I gave you this information.” 

“Thank you, Herald-”

“I am not the Herald. Call me Ellee is you need a name. We should probably be on a first-name basis if I’m going to be seeing you around Haven.”

“Ellee. Thank you for taking down that big Vint for me.”

“It was my pleasure.” Her head turned when one of her teammates began calling out Herald. Saying something about how they had more work to do that day. Krem heard Ellee grumble something along the lines of: ‘By the Dreadwolf Cassandra…’

“I’ll see you back at Haven.” She said before turning around and leaving. Running over to who he assumed with Cassandra.

He returned to helping the rest of the Chargers in getting ready to travel back. Going over all their supplies and discovering that they would need a few more things before the would make the journey. He would have to take Ellee up on her offer before they could make the full journey. He arranged to go with a few of the group to go with him.

Krem thought about Ellee while he helped them get ready to leave. Dalish makes him interested in knowing what was going on with the mask. Bull rubbed off on always wanting to look deeply into everything.

It wasn’t like the mask really covered her identity. She made no effort to truly hide it. If anything, she made sure that people knew her by name and not a title. All she did was hide her face.

What reason would she have to hide her face?


	4. Krem: The Cold & The Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler chapter to put in some passage of time. It was also a thought I had about a job that the Inquisition could give to the Chargers.

While Haven wasn’t nearly as wet as it was on the Storm coast, Krem wished there was a day that wasn’t snowing. He never openly complained about the cold, he was certain Bull would just tell him to summon a rage demon to hug.

Instead, he wore many layers under his armor. He didn’t understand how those native to Ferelden could seem as comfortable as they were in the cold. He saw people walking around in just a tunic and pants.

When Iron Bull told him that they had worked in Orlais he had never packed up faster in his life. It wasn’t an easy job by any means. They got sent out to defend one of the nobles that aligned with the Inquisition as they travel back home.

The journey was to be a fortnight. Krem swore the first week of travel that his ears were ready to freeze off. When they started to enter warmer temperatures he was almost ready to sing at not going to bed shivering. But as he moved from one misery, he found that he was only getting ready to move onto another. They had to fight several different assassins along the way. At one point he thought that he even had an assassin on him.

It took a lot of questioning, and Bull saying something scary sounding in Qunlat. Before the noble finally gave them an explanation.

He told them that his extended family were the ones trying to kill him. Since he had disobeyed their wishes. Krem thought that Tevinter nobles were crazy, Orlesian were just another kind of crazy. He would either have to cut off his support for them, or live with his family trying to kill him for the rest of his life. After the sixth night of assassins coming to kill the Nobel many of them were ready to let him just die. Bull even said.

“We better be getting a fucking bonus for this. Or else I’m going to kill him myself.” At that point, even Krem wasn’t sure he could help with Bull’s irritation. Since Krem was barely keeping himself from snapping at everyone. When Rocky asked if he was also tired. Krem responded with colorful irritated Tevene swears. Rocky just responded by saying that he felt the same.

What finally tipped Krem over the edge when there was only half a day of left traveling. And yet another bunch of assassins came to attack them and the Nobel. When half way through the fight he yelled that he would stop supporting the Inquisition. The assassins then just turned around and left. At first, Krem didn’t do anything. He was just frozen in pure shock of what happened.

“You have to be fucking joking.” He felt himself saying out loud.

Without anyone saying anything. The chargers and the Inquisition all dumped the Nobel's things, then just walk back to Haven. Leaving the Nobel there as he yelled at them to come back. Threatening that he would ruin the name of the Inquisition, not a single person looked back around. No one had any ability to care for him anymore.

The moral and everyone’s mood dramatically improved on the journey back. As it turns out, when you don’t have to kill professional killers on a daily basis, people are much happier. Krem’s good mood lasted even a few day into traveling back through the snow. Until he woke up one morning walked out of his tent.

Only to get knocked over by a giant snowball, and into knee high snow, that was thrown by Iron Bull. His punishment for Krem sleeping in by accident. Then he returned to hating the cold wind and the snow. For the rest of the traveling days, Krem was the first one up.

When they finally got back to Haven it was night time. They delivered their reports to Josephine, unpacked, then went to their beds to sleep of the exhaustion of traveling.

The next morning Josephine came up to Krem and Bull to scold them about abandoning the Nobel. She kept telling them that he would ruin their reputation. When they tried to argue what a headache he was causing she was hearing none of it. Saying they hadn’t completed the job, that was to get him home. After chewing them out, she then left them saying not to expect full pay.

After that, Iron Bull seemed ready to leave the Inquisition. Krem didn’t know what to do since he had become just as miserable about the trip. When Ellee asked Bull to come with her to meet the mages in Redcliffe, he told her that she was too busy to go. Right after he told her that she just walked away. It’s hard to read her with the mask on.

They had decided to stay after they got the pay from the Inquisition. Twice the amount they charged for the job. With the pay came a note from Ellee. Apologizing for the Nobel, saying the extra money was compensation for the emotional stress. The next time Ellee came around him more than happily join her in Redcliff.

It wasn’t until a few days later was Krem able to thank her personally. It was at the tavern in Haven, it was a night that wasn’t filled with soldiers and workers. A night that let Krem sit by himself as he waited for the rest of the chargers to join them. Iron Bull was training with most of them, Krem got let off since Bull likes to train with him one-on-one. He was drinking some wine when Ellee came in.

Krem had learned when she looked like when she was wearing common clothing. She was the shortest of the elves. She wore pants under a simple dress, she always wore layers with her boots and a cowl. Her face alway covered with the scarf. Many people mistook her for one of the working elves.

After she got some a drink she walked over to where Krem was sitting. Asking him if she could sit with him, after he said it was okay she sat across from him.

“How are you doing Krem?”

“I’m doing well. I want to thank you for the extra payment.”

“You’re welcome. You deserve after having to deal with him. I hated that man. I should be thanking you for getting him away from the Inquisition. He was a pain in the ass.” Krem grinned at her.

“I’m always happy to chase noble’s away for elves with pretty eyes.” He could see her rolling her eyes at him. She drank while the two of them spoke to each other.

“Then you sir, need to have higher standards.” He pretended to be offended by her.

“I am perfectly content with my low standards.” She giggled after he said that. He like listening to her laugh.

Krem looked up when he heard singing, Maryden was the woman who sang in the tavern. Krem liked listening to her sing. He often would become distracted by her. Sometimes missing his mouth when he drank from his bottle. He didn’t realize that he was ignoring Ellee, or even that she was speaking since he was becoming lost by the singing. The Chargers frequently joked that Krem had a crush on her.

He liked how each song she sang was a story. About the Inquisition and what they were doing. Some were old stories about before she joined. She had songs about the hero of Ferelden, and the Champion of Kirkwall. Every song she had was a story that she played for the people in the Tavern. Krem loved all of them.

He didn’t notice that he hadn’t been listening to Ellee until she stopped talking. He looked back over at her and saw she was leaned back in her chair. Holding her mug in both hands.

“Pardon?” He said. Trying to pretend like he had only missed the last part.

“Do you think Maryden is pretty?”

“Yes, I think Maryden is pretty. Do you think that she is pretty?” He heard her snort.

“I was just talking about how pretty she is. I knew you weren’t listening.” Krem blushed.

“My apologies,” He said. Trying to hide his face with drinking from his bottle of wine. Only to hit his nose by accident from not looking. He blushed harder as he heard Ellee laughing across the table. He wished he could see her smile when she laughed. She would probably have a pretty smile. Warm and soft, like her laugh.

“It’s okay Krem. She is a wonderful singer. I like to come here and listen to her on my days off.”

The two of them talked until the Chargers came. Talking about music and what they liked. Ellee told him about other bards she had met in her travels. Ones that told tales of other lands. Krem told her about his own travels and experiences with bards. She seemed excited to hear the stories that he had to tell her. It made him happy when he was able to get her to laugh at one of his more humorous stories. They talked back and forth about their experiences. Krem felt himself becoming comfortable talking to Ellee as time went on.

When she saw the Chargers come through the door she left the table. He invited her to stay but she explained that she had to be up early that morning. So he wished her well on her journey before she left. He smiled as he watched her leave, looking forward to the next conversation.

**Author's Note:**

> This is written as if Krem was a love interest in the game.


End file.
